Almost half the population of the earth (3,2 miljard) currently uses mobile communications. In the upcoming years the number of mobile users will grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.2%, leading the mobile phone sector to grow to 4 billion users by 2017, that is 80% of the global adult population. This is concluded in 'The Mobile Economy 2013' by A.T. Kearney and the GSM Association, the international sector organization of mobile operators.

Data traffic

In the report the consultants also conclude that the availability of data services will be the largest growth area for mobile operators. Over the past few years the volume of mobile broadband (MBB) traffic doubled every year, reaching 1,577 Petabytes* per month in 2013. By comparison, this is the equivalent of 500 billion .mp3 files or 800 million hours of streaming HD video. By 2017 the total demand for MBB is forecasted to grow to 11,156 Petabytes.